FEED: What was your background before you started Blu Digital Group?
PAULETTE PANTOJA: Very creative. I went to film school at UCLA and I’m also a musician, but supported my way through UCLA, designing websites and databases. Had I been a little older, I might have been able to take the dot-com boom a bit more seriously. But finding a place for someone that had a really creative side, as well as a technical side, was kind of difficult. I left UCLA and started editing, but missed the technical side. So I started doing databases for a travel agency, and then missed the creative side. However, I then found Ascent Media in Santa Monica, which was eventually purchased by Deluxe. I started project managing – and that was the day I stopped sleeping. I was fascinated with this part of the industry, where content was prepared for audiences. Most people don’t know much about this segment of media and entertainment.They’re aware of screenwriting, production and post, but this was like post-post post, and about monetising film content after its initial release. It fascinated me, because it had a creative component with things like DVD bonus material or menu designs. And I loved the creative aspect, taking all these moving pieces from different groups, in order to make a DVD or Blu-ray disc at the time. I quickly moved up the ladder at Ascent and ended up handling the Disney account.
PP: A company called Panasonic Hollywood Lab (PHL) was interested in pushing for the Blu-ray technology over HD DVD. If you recall, there was a Blu-ray vs HD DVD format war going on.They basically wanted compelling Blu-ray discs, and needed someone to come to their R&D facility to build a production house for creating them.These would be full of compelling features for viewers. I started there and saw an opportunity. Quality control was being done in this very manual way, with a very antiquated process. I left after a year and created a company called Blu Focus, specialising in quality control. It applied software testing methodologies to producing Blu-ray. This is where my technology background took over. I created an online database, an issue-reporting system specific to our part of the industry, and we applied for a patent.This was in 2007. FEED: So, how did the launch of Blu Digital Group come about?
FEED: What was it like venturing into your own business?
PP: I started the company completely on my own from my apartment. I had no investment, no money – nothing. Just an idea and great relationships that I was able to leverage. It felt like a risk worth taking, because I’m of the mindset that I don’t want regret. I don’t want to be a little old lady rocking my chair, going ‘what if, what if, what if...?’ I thought: if I fail, I can always come back with my tail between my legs, begging my boss to take me back, but I needed to try this. And – knock on wood – we’ve been successful and profitable since year one. “I HAD NO INVESTMENT, NO MONEY – NOTHING. JUST AN IDEA AND GREAT RELATIONSHIPS”
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